Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

ROCKET MAN: Civilian reaches space

Historic journey takes pilot 62 miles above Earth

SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill, 63, gives the thumbs up sign Monday morning at the Mojave, Calif., airport after completing the first privately manned flight out of the Earth's atmosphere. Photo by Craig L. Moran. A tailfin of SpaceShipOne is seen over Mojave, Calif., Monday during the first privately financed manned spaceflight. DISCOVERY CHANNEL, VULCAN PRODUCTIONS/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Test pilot Mike Melvill flies SpaceShipOne over Mojave, Calif., Monday. Melvill opened a bag of M&M's candies, seen upper left, to demonstrate weightlessness. DISCOVERY CHANNEL, VULCAN PRODUCTIONS/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan watches his aircraft descend Monday morning to the Mojave Airport in Mojave, Calif. Photo by Craig L. Moran. SpaceShipOne heads for the the edge of space Monday. Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS Internet Extra Photo Space Girl, really Beverly Allgood, of Scottsdale, Arizona, watches the launch of Spaceship One above the Mojave Airport during her visit to the launch site in Mojave, Calif. Photo by Craig L. Moran. Internet Extra Photo Thousands of spectators watch the launch of SpaceShipOne above the Mojave Airport in Mojave, Calif. Photo by Craig L. Moran. Internet Extra Photo SpaceShipOne Pilot Mike W. Mevill waves to the crowed after completing the first non-government manned space flight on June 21, 2004. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

MOJAVE, Calif. -- With a white contrail streaking skyward behind SpaceShipOne, pilot Mike Melvill became the world's first civilian to fly a spaceship out of the atmosphere, soaring more than 62 miles above Earth then gliding back to a safe landing Monday at Mojave Airport.

Melvill said he resorted to a backup system to control the craft for its return after the primary system failed for unknown reasons.

He also said he was "pretty scared" when he heard a loud bang after he lit SpaceShipOne's rocket, which powered the spaceship to three times the speed of sound. A preliminary inspection found that a carbon-fiber covering, or faring, on the underside of the nozzle near the tail might have buckled.

"I went pretty high and when I got to the top I released a bag of M&M's in the cockpit," Melvill, 63, said after he climbed out of SpaceShipOne's side portal to a cheering crowd, estimated by a spokesman to be "tens of thousands" of spectators on one side of a runway.

Melvill said the colorful candies floated in the weightless environment that he experienced for three minutes during the sub-orbital flight.

At a briefing afterward, he said, "I let them go and they just spun around like little sparkling things in front of my face."

The view below, he said, was awesome. He could see the curvature of Earth's surface, islands in the Pacific Ocean and mountain peaks further north in California. Space was jet black, the horizon was blue and low clouds over Los Angeles looked like snow.

"The colors were pretty staggering," he said. "It was almost a religious experience."

On the tarmac at what now is the world's first commercial spaceport for manned flights, Melvill was welcomed to the ranks of astronauts by Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon.

"It was a mind-blowing experience," Melvill said, describing how he could "hear this incredible rushing sound, like a hurricane" as he made his descent.

SpaceShipOne, designed by aviation legend Burt Rutan, landed at 8:14 a.m. after a 1 1/2-hour flight, in which it was lifted to about 48,000 feet slung beneath a carrier aircraft, White Knight. After SpaceShipOne was released, Melvill fired the rocket fueled by liquid nitrous oxide and solid rubber.

It was shortly after that, he said, when he heard the frightening "big bang." The covering the team believes buckled is designed to allow wind to flow smoothly on the underside of the spaceship.

In space, he adjusted the rocket plane's position using a reaction-control system that shoots air out of holes in the wings. Then he said he switched on the spaceship's secondary, electronic trim system, which he used to control the craft at supersonic speeds.

On the descent, he said, "I was holding the control stick centered and hoping the damn thing doesn't fall apart."

Rutan, whose Voyager aircraft in 1986 was the first to fly around the world without refueling, said SpaceShipOne's sub-orbital debut on Monday "wasn't a perfect flight."

"We did get there," he said, telling reporters that preliminary data shows the rocket plane reached 328,491 feet, about 400 feet over the magical, 62-mile mark, or 100 kilometers that makes it a sub-orbital flight.

Melvill said after he flipped switches to ignite the rocket he instantly felt the force of three times gravity, an "eyeballs in" experience, he said.

"You feel like you're falling over on your back and you have to prevent that," Melvill said.

As the propellant burned up and hot gases continued to thrust the plane "you get that chugging feeling," he said.

Melvill said he was impressed with the turnout of spectators.

"I was so excited to see so many who had taken time out on a work day. I was in a state of shock," he said.

The flight made its mark in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first ever privately funded manned space flight. A representative from the Federal Aviation Administration presented Melvill with the first ever commercial astronaut wings.

Rutan said there were several times during the flight that his team in mission control was "extremely emotional."

It was the first time, he said, that a winged vehicle made a carefree re-entry from space. "It was a smooth flight from the standpoint of trajectory," he said.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who was the project's financial backer, said, "I think it's an incredibly exciting day for private space initiatives."

The Scaled Composites team now intends to compete for the $10 million Asnari X-Prize to be the first private venture to demonstrate in a manned flight they can launch three people into sub-orbital space, return them safely then repeat the launch within two weeks with the same vehicle.

There are 26 teams from seven nations competing for the prize.